Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 4:14
And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and he said, [Is] not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart.
14. the Levite ] As Moses, equally with Aaron, belonged to the tribe of Levi (Exo 2:1), the term, as applied distinctively to the latter, must denote, not ancestry, but profession. There must have been a period in the history of the ‘Levites,’ when the term was (McNeile) the official title of one who had received the training of a priest, regardless of the tribe of which he was a member by birth’ (cf. Jdg 17:7, where a member of the tribe of Judah is a ‘Levite’). See Moore, Judges, 383; McNeile, lxvi lxviii. It was the duty of the priest to give trh, or oral ‘direction,’ to the people (p. 79); hence some power of language might be presupposed in him. If the term has here, not a tribal sense, but the official sense just explained, there seed be no anachronism in its use.
that he ] unlike Moses. The pron. is emphatic.
when he seeth thee, &c.] he will be glad, not only to meet thee, but also, it is implied, to cooperate with thee.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Anger – The words of Moses Exo 4:13 indicated more than a consciousness of infirmity; somewhat of vehemence and stubbornness.
Aaron – This is the first mention of Aaron. The words he can speak well, probably imply that Aaron had both the power and will to speak. Aaron is here called the Levite, with reference, it may be, to the future consecration of this tribe.
He cometh forth – i. e. is on the eve of setting forth. Not that Aaron was already on the way, but that he had the intention of going to his brother, probably because the enemies of Moses were now dead. See Exo 4:19.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Exo 4:14-17
He shall be thy spokesman.
Mutual aid in religious work
I. That sometimes great men are called to undertake a work against the performance of which they imagine themselves to have a natural impediment.
1. Men should be certain that their so-called impediment will be a real hindrance in the service to which they are sent. In these days, when people are called to work, they at once refer to their infirmity and unfitness for it; but their real infirmity is not so much their slowness of speech, as their unbelief, and unwillingness to follow the Divine command. They have not the rectal courage to encounter difficulty.
2. But we admit that sometimes men are called to religious work, against the performance of which they have a true natural impediment. And why this apparent anomaly?
(1) It is because with the command He gives the moral energy necessary for its execution. He gives the timid man the stimulus of the vision. He gives him the inspiration of a miracle.
(2) Its design is to educate man on the side of his weakness.
(3) It is to render the mission all the more triumphant when accomplished. It is the distinguishing glory of Christianity that it makes provision for the victory of the weak, who have within their souls the grace of God.
II. That at such times good men require the aid of others whose talents compensate for their infirmities.
1. This help was adapted to the infirmity of Moses. Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. So there are a variety of gifts and talents in the Church. The one is the complement of the other.
2. This help was arranged by the Providence of God. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee.
(1) As to the time of meeting.
(2) As to the place of meeting.
(3) As to the purpose of meeting.
3. This help was founded upon, and rendered welcome by, family relationship. Thy brother.
III. That such co-operation renders religious work much more jubilant and successful.
1. It is happy. It is adapted to our weak condition of faith.
2. It is sympathetic.
3. It is hopeful. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
Moses and Aaron
I. The certificated ambassador. Moses.
1. His hesitation. Caused by
(1) His own meekness. Had not a high opinion of himself.
(2) His knowledge of the people he was sent to deliver, and also of the oppressor. He had not forgotten their rejection of him.
2. His certificate. Power to work sundry miracles is given.
3. His unbelief. Moses seems, at this time, to rely too much on human qualities. His lack of eloquence, he thinks, will be great hindrance.
II. The gracious compensation. Moses and Aaron the complement of each other. The man of words and the man of action. Human qualities are mercifully distributed. No one man perfect. Each needs the help and talents of others. Providence designs that men should not be independent of one another. Two heads better than one. Opposites often found in one family. Moses and Aaron–brothers. Different qualities and talents in a household to be used, and combined, for the service of God. Let none envy the gifts of others, but cultivate his own.
III. The brothers meeting.
1. In the wilderness. Place of brotherly meeting a garden in the desert of life. How great the joy of meeting each other where all around is paradise, and no separation or toll in prospect.
2. Marked by affection. They kissed each other. Mutual respect and love.
3. Their intercourse. Chief matter in hand was Mosess commission. Aaron, the elder, Cheerfully takes the second place. Is indebted for even that to the humility of Moses. They journey on together, and at once address themselves to their work.
Learn–
1. Gods witnesses are witnessed to. Seals to their ministry.
2. Humbly to regard ourselves, but do any work to which Providence calls us.
3. Rejoice in others powers, and cheerfully unite for common ends.
4. Thank God for our meeting on earth, and prepare for the better one.
5. Christ, our elder Brother, meets us in the wilderness, salutes us with the kiss of love, and goes with us to all our holy labours. (J. C. Gray.)
Mutual service
In the valley of Chamounix there stands a very interesting monument; it presents two figures–Saussure, the great scientist, and Balmat, the guide, who was the very first to stand on the summit of Mont Blanc. Saussure on the summit of the mighty mountain could do what the poor guide could not do, he could observe the structure of the rocks, take observations of barometrical variations, note the intensity of the solar rays, the mode of formation of clouds, and he could describe the superb scenery unfolded to his view with the feeling of an artist and the pen of a poet. Balmat could do nothing of all this but had it not been for his skill and daring, Saussure had never scaled the glorious height. So on the monument both are immortalized, the lowly guide, the famous philosopher, for by their mutuality they triumphed and gave mankind a new world of science and poetry. So it ever is in the Church. In Christian fellowship all souls serve one another. (W. L. Watkinson.)
Life and service interdependent
In the great honey industries of South California the bees play a most important and valuable part. But they cannot pierce the skins of the apricots until the lady-bug has made a hole for them. It must have been an accidental thing at the outset, the first bee joining a lady-bug at her feast of apricot, but they have now become necessary to the honey-crop of the district. All life and service is interdependent–Timothy is necessary to Paul; the least essential to the great. (H. O. Mackey.)
The Divine anger
1. Often righteously provoked.
2. Often gentle in its reproof.
3. Truly benevolent in its disposition. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
I know that he can speak well
I. Then God takes knowledge of the varied talents of men.
II. Then God will hold men responsible for their talents.
III. Then the talents of men cannot be better employed than in the service of the Church. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
Christian workers more ready to rely on man than on God
We have noted the timidity and hesitation of Moses, notwithstanding the varied promises and assurances with which Divine grace had furnished him. And now, although there was nothing gained in the way of real power, although there was no more virtue or efficacy in one mouth than in another, although it was Moses, after all, who was to speak unto Aaron, yet Moses was quite ready to go when assured of the presence and co-operation of a poor feeble mortal like himself, whereas he could not go when assured again and again that Jehovah would be with him. How his case, like a mirror, reflects our own hearts! We are more ready to trust anything than the living God. How deeply should it humble us before the Lord that, though we move along with bold decision when we possess the countenance and support of a poor frail mortal like ourselves, yet we falter, hesitate, and demur when we have the light of the Masters countenance and the strength of His omnipotent arm to support us. (A. Nevin, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 14. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses] Surely this would not have been the case had he only in modesty, and from a deep sense of his own unfitness, desired that the Messiah should be preferred before him. But the whole connection shows that this interpretation is unfounded.
Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother?] Houbigant endeavours to prove from this that Moses, in Ex 4:13, did pray for the immediate mission of the Messiah, and that God gives him here a reason why this could not be, because the Levitical priesthood was to precede the priesthood of our Lord. Is not Aaron the Levite, &c. Must not the ministry of Aaron be first established, before the other can take place? Why then ask for that which is contrary to the Divine counsel? From the opinion of so great a critic as Houbigant no man would wish to dissent, except through necessity: however, I must say that it does appear to me that his view of these verses is fanciful, and the arguments by which he supports it are insufficient to establish his point.
I know that he can speak well.] yadati ki dabber yedabber hu, I know that in speaking he will speak. That is, he is apt to talk, and has a ready utterance.
He cometh forth to meet thee] He shall meet thee at my mount, (Ex 4:27), shall rejoice in thy mission, and most heartily co-operate with thee in all things. A necessary assurance, to prevent Moses from suspecting that Aaron, who was his elder brother, would envy his superior call and office.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
He cometh forth to meet thee, by my instigation and direction; which, because I see thou art still diffident, I give thee for a new sign to strengthen thy belief that I will carry thee through this hard work.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
14. the anger of the Lord waskindled against MosesThe Divine Being is not subject toebullitions of passion; but His displeasure was manifested bytransferring the honor of the priesthood, which would otherwise havebeen bestowed on Moses, to Aaron, who was from this time destined tobe the head of the house of Levi (1Ch23:13). Marvellous had been His condescension and patience indealing with Moses; and now every remaining scruple was removed bythe unexpected and welcome intelligence that his brother Aaron was tobe his colleague. God knew from the beginning what Moses would do,but He reserves this motive to the last as the strongest to rouse hislanguid heart, and Moses now fully and cordially complied with thecall. If we are surprised at his backwardness amidst all the signsand promises that were given him, we must admire his candor andhonesty in recording it.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses,…. For the objections, excuses, and delays he made with respect to his mission. In what way this anger was expressed is not easy to say, whether by not removing the impediment of his speech, or not giving him the priesthood, which Jarchi thinks he otherwise would have had, and Aaron been only a Levite, as he is called in the next clause; or whether it was by joining Aaron to him, and so lessening his honour in this embassy, though that seems to be done to encourage him; or by not suffering him to lead the children of Israel into the land of Canaan, which yet is ascribed to another cause. However, though the Lord was angry with Moses, yet without any change of affection to him, he still retained and expressed a great regard to him; did not reject him from his service as he might have done, but employed him, and preferred him to his elder brother. Moses shows himself to be a faithful historian in recording his own weaknesses, and the displeasure of God at them:
and he said, is not Aaron the Levite thy brother; he was, and his elder brother, he was born three years before him, Ex 7:7 though Justin w, an Heathen writer, says he was his son, and calls his name Aruas, and speaks of him as an Egyptian priest, and that he was made king after Moses’s death; hence, he says, was the custom with the Jews for the same persons to be kings and priests; in all which he is mistaken. But Artapanus x, another Heathen writer, calls him the brother of Moses, and by his right name, Aaron; and says it was by his advice Moses fled into Arabia, and speaks of his meeting him afterwards, when he was sent to the king of Egypt. Aaron is called the Levite, because he was a descendant of Levi, and yet so was Moses; perhaps this is added here, to distinguish him from others of the same name in other families, as Aben Ezra thinks; for as for what Jarchi suggests, as before, is without any foundation; and it is much more likely that Moses added this title to him, in his account of this affair, because he was the first of the tribe of Levi that was employed in the priestly office:
I know that he can speak well; or “in speaking speak” y, speak very freely, fluently, in an eloquent manner; in which he was an eminent type of Christ, who is our advocate with the father, and has the tongue of the learned to speak a word in season; and does speak and plead for the conversion of his people, for the comfort of them, for the discoveries of pardoning grace and mercy to them; and for the carrying on the work of grace in them, and their perseverance to the end, and for their eternal glorification. The prayer in Joh 17:1 is a specimen of this:
and also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee; having had an intimation from God of Moses’s call to come into Egypt, and deliver his people from their bondage, he immediately set out to meet him, whereby he showed more faith, zeal, and courage, than Moses did; and this is said to animate him, and was a new sign, and would be a fresh confirmation of his faith, when he should see it accomplished, as he did:
and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart: sincerely glad, and not only secretly so, but would express his cordial joy with his lips; not only because of his having a sight of his brother once more, whom he had not seen for forty years past, but because of his coming on such an errand from God, to deliver the people of Israel; and therefore, as he would express such gladness on this occasion, it became Moses to engage in this work with the utmost pleasure and cheerfulness.
w E Trogo, l. 36. c. 2. x Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 27. p. 433, 434. y “loquendo loquetur”, Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, Drusius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
14. And the anger of the Lord was kindled. This passage confirms, by opposition, that expression, that there is no better sacrifice than to obey the voice of the Lord, (1Sa 15:22,) since God is so grievously offended with the hesitation of Moses, in spite of his specious excuses. But nothing is more pleasing to God than to maintain the authority of his word, and that men should suffer themselves to be guided by this rein. God had pardoned His servant’s slowness and unwillingness to the work; but beholding that he obstinately refused, He spares him no longer. Hence we are warned cautiously to beware, lest if God bear with us for a time, we give way to self-indulgence, as if we were permitted to abuse His patience with impunity. Still it is a mark of His fatherly kindness, that in His anger He contents Himself with reproof. As to His saying that he knew that Aaron would be his brother’s interpreter, it is questionable whether He had intended from the beginning to employ him in this way, or whether He conceded thus much at length to the diffidence of Moses.
It is indeed true, that God does nothing which He has not decreed by His secret providence before the creation of the world; yet sometimes second causes intervene why this or that should be done. Either view is probable, — either that God affirms Aaron to be already chosen by Him to be an assistant to Moses, or that He says He will grant this concession to the infirmity of Moses. The latter pleases me best, that Aaron should be added in anger as his brother’s companion, and that part of the honor should be transferred to him; when Moses, by his own repugnance, had deprived himself of some of his dignity. But why is he called “the Levite,” as if he were an unknown person? Some reply, that there were many among the Israelites of that name; but this simple solution satisfies me, that it was not any indifferent individual of the children of Israel who was promised to Moses as his companion, but his own brother; one who, by his close relationship, might exercise greater familiarity with him. Unless, perhaps, God looked forward to the future calling of the tribe of Levi; for he tells us, by the mouth of Malachi, that His covenant was with Levi, that his descendants should be the keepers of the law and of the truth, and the messengers of the Lord of hosts. (Mal 2:4.) Thus the sense would be very satisfactory, that God would restrain His wrath, and although aroused to anger by the refusal of Moses, he would still take an ambassador out of that tribe which he destined to the priesthood. Moreover, no slight confirmation is added, in that Aaron would come forth to meet his brother in the Desert, and would receive him with great joy. It was as much as to shew that whilst God was pressing forward His servant from the land of Midian with the one hand, He would stretch forth the other to draw him into Egypt. Though the vision ought to have quickened him to perform God’s command, yet because it was necessary to stimulate his inactivity, Aaron was sent, as if God openly put forth His hand to excite him forward. For he had neither come into the Desert for pleasure, nor by chance, nor from vain curiosity; but Moses knew assuredly that a banner thus was set up for him by God, to shew him the certainty of his way. So by the coming of Ananias the vision seen by Paul was confirmed, and placed beyond the reach of doubt. (Act 9:17.) This was, indeed, extorted from God by the importunity of Moses. According to His infinite goodness He willed to elicit from the sin of His servant materials for His grace; just as He is accustomed to bring light out of darkness. (2Co 4:6.) God mentions his brother’s gladness to Moses, in order to reprove his own indifference; as much as to say, Aaron will willingly come forth, and will receive you with joy and gladness; whilst you, depressed with sorrow and anxiety, or stupified by distrust, can scarcely be induced to stir a foot.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
THE SECOND-RATE MAN AARON
Exo 4:14-16
THESE words from the Sacred Scriptures give us a little insight into the relation sustained to each other by those noble brothers. It was a relation of affectionWhen he seeth thee, he will he glad in his heart. It was to be a relation of co-operation He shall he thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt he to him instead of God. In other words, their work should be one work; and their object the same; each should strengthen the other. It was no whim; it was wisdom that moved Jesus to send men out two by two; as C. H. Mackintosh remarks, Unity is ever better than isolation.
It is a matter of interest to know that in history great men have often been seconded by some faithful brother, and their successes have depended in no small measure upon the assistance thus rendered. Who can tell, for instance, how much Aarons help meant to Moses; how much Jonathans love meant to David; how much the loyalty of Elisha meant to Elijah; what strength Timothy imparted to Paul; what inspiration Polycarp gave to John; Melancthon to Luther; Charles Wesley to John Wesley; James Spurgeon to Charles Spurgeon; Mr. Halliday to Mr. Beecher; Mr. McElwain to Dr. Gordon? It is not unusual for a man of the Moses typecourageous in spirit, bold in thought, strong in undertakingto be deficient in mere matters of detail, and hence to require an assistant and associate who can tie the threads and keep in order all the machinery necessary in the execution of great enterprises.
Aaron was Moses elder, but Moses was Aarons superior. Because Esau is first-born, it does not signify that he will become Israel, Prince with God, for the God who sees the characters of men and understands all their powers, knowing that Jacob could better serve the purpose, will pass over the fact that he is the second-born and select him. In truth, though there be seven sons, Eliab, Abinadab, Shammah, the whole seven may pass before the Lord and yet the Prophet Samuel be compelled to say, The Lord hath not chosen these. Are these all the children? And when he learns there remains yet a younger and he keepeth the sheep, the Prophet adds, Go fetch him. On seeing him, hear the Lord say, Arise anoint him; for this is he. It is not age, nor appearance, nor political station that determines the Divine appointment. It is something deeper and higher; it is essential worth. That is why God gave Moses, the younger, the first place, and Aaron, the second. Moses was a man of the highest order; and Aaron was a second-rate soul.
Four things let us see in the study of this character.
HIS LIFE WORK WAS DIVINELY SELECTED
God called him unto it. Aaron thy brother, he shall be thy spokesman unto thy people. It was a Divine appointment. That is a great advantage to a man! To know that God has sent one gives him assurance. Pastor Stalker in his Imago Christi sets this down as one of the essentials in a successful ministry. He says, The soul-winner must be conscious that he is doing Gods work, and that it is Gods message he bears to men. And he assigns as the reason the fact that when we are piqued with the ingratitude of those for whom we have put forth our best efforts, and are even puzzled by their opposition and enmity, we will need a sterner motive than love of men to make our service sure. Our retreating zeal requires to be rallied by the command of God. It is His work; these souls are His; He has committed them to our care; and at the judgment-seat He will demand an account of them. Aaron should have had this consciousness, since Aaron evidently enjoyed this call.
His duty had been clearly defined for him. He was to be unto Moses instead of a mouth. Perhaps second to a conscious call from God, there is no greater essential to success than to know clearly what God expects of one. I have often wondered at the secret of Savonarolas eloquence, and marveled that a man in those dark Middle Ages could so sway the multitudes. But I think that secret is an open one, as Dr. S. E. Herrick, in his beautifully written volume, Some Heretics of Yesterday, uncovers it for us when he repeats for us how Savonarola prayed often and repeatedly, Oh, Lord, make known to me the way in which I am to guide my soul. It is the prayer that men, destined to be great, make in one form or another. Paul said, What wilt Thou have me to do? And as Paul was given definite direction, so the secret of the Lord was revealed to Savonarola, and in Florence, he became a flaming fire for God. The worldly man can get out of bed at break of day and rush away to his wonted duties without ever questioning Gods throne as to where he shall walk and what he shall attempt, but this question, Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do? is the vital breath of the Christians life; and to have it divinely answered of God, to hear Him say, Such is your task, is to have revealed to us another of the secrets of success.
Aarons duty was associated with an honored office. He was to be instead of a mouth for Moses, and Moses was to be to him as God. Let us not misunderstand! He was not to bow before Moses; he was not to pray to Moses; he was not to sing Moses praises. Shortly Moses himself shall bring from the holy mount these words,
I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God.
This simply means that as Moses was in touch with God and was receiving his messages from God, Aaron must take those messages to the people and be at once Moses mouth-piece and Gods mouthpiece. Already he is a Levite; by this new appointment he also becomes a priest. We know what the priest was to do. It was his to speak with God for the people and plead their cause; it was his also to speak with the people for God, revealing to them His last message. Did it ever occur to you that this office is one of those honored by the Son of God Himself. He is Prophet, Priest, and King. His prophetic work was done when in the worldGods spokesman; His priestly office He now holds as mediator before the throne; His Kingship is to come with His return to the world to reign from sea to sea, and from the rivers to the ends of the earth. And while the Priest may be less than the King, he may be greater than the Prophet, as prayer is greater than preaching; as successful intercession with God is even more essential than successful inspiration with the people. We have not set as high esteem upon the priests office as we ought. We are in such rebellion against the ceremonialism of Rome, and the dead-letterisms of Jewry, that we almost despise the office of priest; and yet, beloved, we are priests ourselves if we have power at the throne of God, and it is our most honored office. Whitfield set the right estimate upon the man who knew how to pray, who could, like the priest of old, enter into the holy of holies and talk with God, and so he carried about with him an aged man to pray for him and for the people to whom he preached, and believed deeply that the petitions of that man availed at the throne. Yes, Aarons was an honored office.
But it remains to be said,
HE WAS NOT CALLED TO LEAD BUT TO AID
It was to Moses that God had said, I will send thee unto Pharaoh that thou mayest bring forth My people, the Children of Israel, out of Egypt. And to Aaron God had only said that he should be to Moses instead of a mouth.
Some men are not leaders born. Children differ even in the hour of their nativity. A few years since in Chicago, a speaker eloquently expressed what had often been in my mind when he said, The famous preamble to our Declaration of Independence, while sublime in its conclusion, is most sophistical in its argument, and savors more of Rousseau than of the New Testament. I know not which is the greater falsehood, that all men are born free, or that all men are born equal. The first assertion is negatived by all history; the second, by all observation and experience. Equality of capacity, attainment or reward is and was divinely intended to be forever impossible. All ye are brethren, said Jesus; our brothers are not our duplicates. If they were, the glory and beauty of the family life would at once disappear. When men came to Christ and asked him, Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven? He did not answer, No one shall be the greatest; all there are to live on a level of perfect equality, but He laid down a new standard of greatness. When James and John came to Him and said, Master we want the high seats in Thy Kingdom, He did not answer, There are no high seats there; no man is above his neighbor, but He said, Are you willing to endure the preparation for the high seats in the new Kingdom? Some of the timber that is floated down the Maine rivers is fashioned into masts of vessels, some into chairs and tables, and some into lead, pencils. You cannot make seaworthy masts out of lead pencil timber. Professor Ely, who has often been quoted on the other side of this matter, said in his recent article in the Forum, that the teaching of the essential equality of men bears with special hardship on the weaker members of the social body, for, in the words of an eminent jurist, Nothing is more unequal than the equal treatment of unequals. There is not a shred of teaching in the New Testament which can be construed into the doctrine of the natural equality of men.
Some years ago, we read a sermon from Bishop Brooks on the parable of the talents in which he brings out the fact that men by nature are fitly represented there; some of them have five talents, some two, and some only one. It is not always an easy thing for men to make up their minds to mediocrity. We cannot tell in how many natures there comes deep struggle and sad disappointment before the lot of the average man is cordially accepted. A young man starts untried. He is a problem to himself and everybody else. Who can say what strange capacity is folded in this yet unopened life? It is a young mans right, almost his duty, to hope, almost to believe, that he has singular capacity, and is not merely another repetition of the constantly repeated average of men. Before he unfolds the bundle which his Lord has given him, he may well see in his imagination the five bright shining talents through the folds. We would not give much for the young man to whom there came no such visions and dreams of extraordinary life. To see those dreams and visions gradually fade away; little by little to discover that one has no such exceptional ability; to try one and another of the adventurous ways which lead to the high heights and the great prizes, and find the feet unequal to them; to come back at last to the great trodden highway, and plod on among the undistinguished millions, that is often very hard. And yet, such was Aarons fate. There was never an exigency in his life requiring the highest courage, the clearest thinking, and the boldest action but he failed. Witness Miriams rebellion, and let the golden calf also testify to the truthfulness of this assertion. In concurrence with the cowardly majority, he went back from Kadesh-Barnea, and all the rest of the book of his life is after that manner.
God is the best judge of mans ability. He knows what we are suited to do. It is only when a man departs from the Divine guidance and undertakes what has not been committed to him or neglects that to which he has been called, that failure comes the little man laying his mind to the large endeavor, or, the appointed priests, attempting the role of warrior and leader. It pays therefore to let God speak, since He understands for what we are suited. See that thou make all things according to the pattern shown to thee in the mount (Exo 25:40).
God has His plan for every mans best. The prayer of Saul is the pledge of Paul, the Apostle, Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do? Sidney Smith says, Be what nature intended you for and you will succeed. Be anything else and you will be ten times worse than nothing. I would change Sidneys sentences in but a single word, Be what God intended you for and you will succeed. Be anything else and you will be ten times worse than nothing. Too long men have imagined that God had only to do with determining those professions which we call sacredputting men in the ministry, sending them to the foreign field, etc. God has His plan for every man, and He appointed Moses to leadership and war as surely as He called Aaron to holy service. To find out that plan through prayer is to put ones self in the way. Macmillans Magazine once related this incident: A young man whose bluntness was such that every effort to turn him to account in a linen-drapery establishment was found unavailing, received from his employer the customary note that he would not suit, and must go. But Im good for something, remonstrated the poor fellow, loath to be turned out into the street. You are good for nothing as a salesman, said the principal, regarding him from his selfish point of view. I am sure I can be useful, repeated the young man. How? Tell me how. I dont know, sir; I dont know. Nor do I. And the principal laughed as he saw the eagerness the lad displayed. Only dont put me away, sir; dont put me away. Try me at something besides selling. I cannot sell; I know I cannot sell. I know that, too; that is what is wrong. But I can make myself useful somehow; I know I can. The blunt boy, who could not be turned into a salesman, and whose manner was so little captivating that he was nearly sent about his business, was accordingly tried at something else. He was placed in the counting house, where his aptitude for figures soon showed itself, and in a few years he became not only chief cashier in the concern, but eminent as an accountant throughout the whole country. Who can say that such a calling was not in providence planned for him? Commit thy ways unto the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. It is to the obedient Joshuas of earth He has said, Then shalt thou make thy ways prosper, and thou shalt have good success. At every point where Aaron kept to the Divine command, and seconded the efforts of his younger, though more illustrious brother Moses, he succeeded. His every departure from this plan of life was a painful failure. So plain is the lesson that the wayfaring man, though a fool, need not err therein.
AARONS WEAKNESS MILITATED AGAINST HIS WORTH
He had no courage to oppose a crowd. Through the forty years of Moses banishment from Egypt, Aaron dwelt there with Gods people and never dreamed of facing Pharaoh and demanding their emancipation. And in all the murmurings of the people during their wilderness experience, it was Moses who called them to account for their conduct, not Aaron. When Moses was in the holy mount and the people gathered themselves and said unto Aaron, Up, make us gods which shall go before us, he weakly surrendered and took their gold earrings and made for them a molten calf, and Aaron built an altar before it. When Miriam rebelled against her brother because he had married an Ethiopian woman, followed as she doubtless was by the company, Aaron joined with her in complaint, so that the anger of the Lord was kindled against them and Miriam becomes leprous or white as snow; upon which Aaron looked, to say unto Moses, Alas, my Lord, I beseech thee, lay not the sin upon us, wherein we have done foolishly, and wherein we have sinned.
The world has in it too many weak men: men like the man at the temple gate Beautiful, with diseased ankle bones; men who cannot stand on their own feet and exercise an independent opinion. There is an impression that a Christian spirit is to be always in agreement with the crowd. A contributor of a recent article, in the endeavor to sound the highest praises of a good man, said, He could not make an enemy. Neither could Aaron; he lacked the courage. He would worship at the shrine of a golden calf rather than lower himself a bit in popularity. But God did not approve the popularity.
Moses was a man of conflicts many, and his courage is everywhere commended. He is in line not only with the Scripture, but with the noblest sentence of history which says, Individualism involves trial; it means the cross. But it also means heroism and daring. All the world is against you, they said to John Knox, and he retorted, Then I am against all the world. When Bunyan was asked to pledge himself to preach no more, he said, I will rather stay in jail until the moss grows out of my eyebrows.
Hes a slave who dare not be
In the right with two or three.
Scarce a poem of modern times that has justified itself as an emphasis of this needful truth as does that of James Russell Lowell on The Present Crisis, two verses of which aptly illustrate our thought:
Then to side with Truth is noble when we share her wretched crust,
Ere her cause bring fame and profit, and tis prosperous to be just;
Then it is the brave man chooses, while the coward stands aside,
Doubting, in his abject spirit, till his Lord is crucified,
And the multitude make virtue of the faith they had denied.
Count me oer earths chosen heroes; they were souls that stood alone,
While the men they agonized for, hurled the contumelious stone,
Stood, serene, and down the future saw the golden beam incline
To the side of perfect justice, mastered by their faith Divine,
By one mans plain truth to manhood and to Gods supreme design.
I once read some words that I commend to the thought of the youth of this audience. They relate to the occasion at West Point, June 11th, when the President with his own hand decorated cadet Calvin Pearl Titus with a golden medal for bravery. He was a bugler in the 14th Infantry, and was the first to scale the walls at Pekin, August 14th, 1900. His brave act, witnessed by thousands, sent his name around the world, and yet those who knew him expected just such conduct, for he was a young man who had the courage of his convictions. On the night of his enlistment for the Spanish American war, he was assigned to a tent with a half dozen men, and yet when it came time for retiring, he said to them, Boys, I dont know; whether any of you men pray, but I do, and he went down on his knees full before their faces to talk with his Father as was his wont. And yet in the whole history of West Point Military Academy, never was plebe or cadet who has been so honored as to be presented with a medal by a vote of Congress.
Aaron lacked the conviction that confesses wrong. When Miriam was smitten before his eyes with leprosy, he said, We have sinned. That was the cry of one under judgment. When Moses came down from the holy mount to find the people worshiping the golden calf and called upon Aaron to know why he had brought so great sin upon them, he dissembled by saying, I said unto them, whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off, so they gave it me, then I cast it into the fire and there came out this calf. He was covering up the fact that he had fashioned it with a graving tool, concealing the sin that he might escape the penalty. Now we know why God could not give to him first place. A mistake often reveals the man. If he is a great soul, he will confess it fully and frankly; but, if a second-rate one, he will attempt to conceal it and start on a plea of self-justification. Dr. Galusha Anderson tells of having known a young man in the winter of 1876, who in the Moody meetings in Chicago, professed interest in his soul; and that profession called out Andersons sympathies and assistance. And yet, for some reason Andersons prayers for the young man did not avail. One day he said to Anderson, I am a telegrapher and I wish you would go with me to the ticket office of the Western Union, and solicit a place for me as operator. Anderson went with him gladly. When he introduced him to the superintendent, he said, Oh, yes, I know George. And then, turning to Dr. Anderson, he said, This man for whom you are interested is a most skillful telegrapher. I know of no ear so delicately attuned as his. He never mistakes the click of the instrument. We had unbounded confidence in him, and put him in a position of trust, but he would persist in getting drunk and we were compelled to discharge him. But, said the man, defending himself, when I was in Cleveland, my companions led me astray. If it had not been for them, I should not have been drunk, but now O George, broke in the superintendent, have you repented? If you have, dont be deceiving yourself; you will have to get down flatter on your face than that. No man truly repents who lays his sins to others. Who shall say that the superintendent was not right? It requires courage to confess a wrongto confess it to God and before men. But there is forgiveness for the man who exercises it; and there is condemnation for the man who dissembles. He that covereth his sins shall not prosper.
His sufferings were in some degree the measure of his sins. It was a painful sight to behold Miriam stricken with leprosy and to realize that he had encouraged her in the course that accomplished this living death. When the rebellious Israelites were falling at the sword of the Levites, three thousand in a day because they had worshiped the calf, the sword must have pierced Aarons soul through because he had practically assisted them in so doing.
In our study of Lev 10:1-20, we shall see Nadab and Abihu, the elder sons of this man, smitten by fire from the Lord because they will offer strange fire before the Lord which He had commanded them not. And we will be told that Aaron held his peace. It is a pathetic sight, this of a father sitting in solitude and silence in the hour of his own childrens destruction. And yet, Aaron was learning again that sorrow was the measure of sin. And in this respect Gods law does not change. Many a time since entering Minneapolis I have found acquaintances and, at times, professed followers of Christ, in evil courses, and sometimes have pled with them with every possible power to see the dreadfulness and the danger of deliberate iniquity. But some of them have had to see the inside of the city jail, and others practically suffered the tortures of the damned before they understood. Beloved, the Apostle wrote truly when he said, Lust when it hath conceived bringeth forth sin; and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death.
But one thing more.
AARONS OFFICE PROPHESIES THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST
We have already spoken of it as being high and holy.
He entered into the Fathers presence. It is a great privilege, this of coming into the presence of God. Ancient kings used to have a custom of allowing no one in their presence save those whom they summoned. You will remember that Esther took her life into her hands when she went unto the presence of Ahasuerus unbidden, saying as she went, If I perish, I perish. * *. But it was so when the king saw Esther, the queen, standing in the court, she found favor in his sight. But the high priest had rightful access to the presence of God. It was a prophecy of that better priesthood which we have in Christ Jesus. Of old, there
were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death; but this Man, because He continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore, He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them (Heb 7:23-28).
The priest pled the cause of the people. Aaron was a man appointed to go unto God as a mediator. How much better our state since this office has passed on to the Son Himself. We have a great High Priest that has passed into the vailJesus, the Son of God who can be
touched with the feeling of our infirmities; * * He was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace. * *. If in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to succour them that are tempted.
The priest presented the blood in atonement. You go over to the Book of Leviticus, the ninth chapter and find that Aaron had, first of all, to present the blood for himself, and after that, to sprinkle the blood for the people. But our High Priest is without sin. The blood which Aaron presented was only that of bulls and goats which could not take away the sins of the people; it only served to point to the better sacrifice to come, when, through the shed Blood of the Son of God, our souls might be made clean.
Do you recall the felicitous story of Luther in which he outwits the Adversary, as was Luthers wont. It was this: During a serious illness, the evil one seemed to enter his sick room, and looking at him with a triumphant smile, unrolled a vast roll which he carried in his arms. As one end of it fell on the floor, and with the impetus he had given it, unwound, Luthers eyes were fixed on it and to his consternation he read there the record of his own sins, clearly and distinctly enumerated. He quailed before it; but suddenly there flashed into his mind that there was one thing not Written there, and he said aloud, One thing you have forgotten. The Blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin. When his enemy, the accuser of his brethren, heard this, he took up his heavy roll again and suddenly disappeared. It is the way of triumph, beloved, the way of the Blood. When, on that awful night in Egypt, the death angel walked through the land and slew the first born in every house where he saw not the blood stain on the posts and lintels of the doors, he passed over unharmed every house on which that blood appeared; and whatever scientists and philosophers may say to the contrary, the Scriptures remain clear that such is our hope since Christ has put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself, and perfected forever, them that are sanctified. To those who have accepted the Blood that cleanses, has come the promise, full and glorious, Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
It is said of Aaron that when the time had come that he walked with Moses to the peak of lofty mount Hor, whose vast cliffs and perpendicular walls of stone, and pinnacled towers still pierce the sky, there to lie down in the presence of his brother and Eleazer, his son, and breathe his last, they took the robes from the dying man that they might be put on his successor, and kissed him on the brow. As they stripped him a silver veil of cloud sank over him like a pall and covered him and Aaron slept the sleep of the saved, and his soul was parted from the body. Aaron had sinned and yet for Aaron, the blood had been shed and he had trusted in it and was redeemed, and precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. I noticed the other day in the Young Peoples paper, the statement that when Rev. J. F. Lyte found there was no hope of his recovery from consumption, he went into his study, looked death straight in the face, and sat down and wrote the brave and beautiful words:
I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness;
Where is Deaths sting? Where, Grave thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.
Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Exo. 4:14-17
MUTUAL AID IN RELIGIOUS WORK
I. That sometimes good men are called to undertake a work, against the performance of which they imagine themselves to have a natural impediment. Moses was called to go and achieve the freedom of Israel. But he says that he is a man slow of speech, and that as he is unlikely to succeed in such an undertaking, he asks that God will send another in his stead. Thus Moses was designated to a work, against the performance of which he imagined himself to have a natural infirmity, the lack of ready utterance
1. Men should be certain that their so-called impediment is a real hindrance in the service to which they are sent. Was Moses certain that his lack of speech would prove a real hindrance in the performance of his mission, especially when he considered the preparation he had already received, and the miracles he had been empowered to work? If so, he was mistaken. He looked more on the surface of things than into their depths. He probably regarded his own comfort more than the real bearing of his infirmity upon his mission. He wanted an excuse, and found one in his natural deficiency of language. He probably wanted to appear before Israel as some great one. He wanted to accomplished his mission without encountering difficulty. He looked more at secondary causes than at primary, more at himself than at God and his promised help. And men who do this will be sure to have infirmities, fancied or real. Thus we are not quite so sure that Moses was right in supposing that his lack of speech was a real hindrance to his mission. If he had been gifted in the direction of language, he might have been in danger of betraying his mission by indiscretion. It is a dangerous thing for a man that has moral power and a great mission to have the gift of language, he will almost be sure to talk too much about the honour of his calling, and the power he has to work miracles. Many such enterprises have been wrecked by so-called eloquence. True the public like a man that can talk; he is more likely to become a general favourite; he may win their pleasantry, but will he achieve their moral conviction? Many a minister would have been more successful in his work if he had been more slow of tongue. Thus, before we lament our natural impediment to service, and say that God has called the wrong man for the work, we must look into the reality of things, and see whether our infirmity is a real hindrance or not. In these days when people are called to work, they at once refer to their infirmity and unfitness for it, but their real infirmity is not so much their slowness of speech, as this unbelief and unwillingness to follow the Divine command. They have not the moral courage to encounter difficulty. They think more of Pharaoh and his army than of the Divine companionship that has promised to be with them.
2. But we admit that sometimes men are called to religious service against the performance of which they have a natural impediment. Sometimes men of little courage are sent on errands which require them to be brave; sometimes men of little faith are sent on errands which require them to have strong confidence in the Unseen; sometimes men of slow speech are sent to give the law of God to the assembled multitudes at Sinai. And why this apparent anomaly and invertion of things.
(1.) Is it not an injustice on the part of the Divine requirement. Can God fully expect men of small courage to go to Pharaoh and demand the freedom of a nation. It is just, because with the command He gives the moral energy necessary for its execution. He gives the timid man the stimulus of the vision. He gives him the inspiration of a miracle.
(2.) Its design is to educate man on the side of his weakness. The man lacks courage. The mission requires it. God awakens it. Hence the man who left home a coward, returns a hero. Moses hesitated to undertake the journey to Israel; he did not hesitate to take that still more formidable journey up the mountain of Nebo, into the arms of death. No; the discipline of the mission has been effectual. He has been educated thereby on the side of his weakness. Thus the calling of men to work for which they are antecedently unfitted, is purely educational in its design.
(3.) It is to render the mission all the more triumphant when accomplished. The strong man is familiar with victory, it has ceased to awaken him to enthusiasm as once it did. But for the weak to be the victorious is a new thing, it occasions a new experience, and renders the occasion worthy of more triumphant plaudits. It is the distinguishing glory of Christianity that it makes provision for the victory of the weak who have within their souls the grace of God.
II. That at such time good men require the aid of others whose talents compensate for their infirmity. Sometimes the Divine discipline requires that the weak shall go alone to the mission, for their greater spiritual good and honour, but in the case before us so arduous was the duty, so destitute were the times of religious light, and so vague were the ideas of men on moral service, that God responded to the implied wish of Moses, and gave him the direct help he needed. God does not entirely leave men of natural infirmity alone in their Christian service, but sends them external aid, most helpful and welcome.
1. This help was adapted to the infirmity of Moses. Is not Aaron, the Levite, thy brother? I know that he can speak well. Moses was a thinker. So there is a variety of gifts and talent in the Church. Some have the gift of wealth. Others have the gift of originality. Others have the gift of legislation. Others have the gift of great influence. One star differeth from another star in glory. How happy when the whole system of Christian work is revolving in harmony, giving light and hope to the universe. Thus the weak catch the light and impetus of the strong, and the lack of talent in one direction is made up by its supply in another. It is by this combination of Christian talent that all great enterprises will be carried to their successful issue. Let no Christian speaker refuse to aid a Christian thinker. The one is the complement of the other.
2. This help was arranged by the providence of God. And also, behold He cometh forth to meet thee.
(1.) As to the time of meeting.
(2.) As to the place of meeting.
(3.) As to the purpose of meeting. Thus the useful combination of talent in the enterprise of human emancipation from moral evil has the Divine sanction, its blending is arranged by the providence of God, and its entire out-working is superintended by Him. I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do.
3. The help was founded upon and rendered welcome by family relationship. Thy brother. God did not bring a stranger to the aid of Moses. Moses could not well have communicated his history, his moral experiences to such an one, but he was glad to meet his brother, the sadness of his new mission was removed by the joyful interview, and together, animated by new impulses of hope, they would look over their work and enter into each others feelings respecting it. The talents of a family are variously distributed, and when all are consecrated to the Divine service, one may aid another in the great spiritual enterprise of his life.
III. That such co-operation renders religious work much more jubilant and successful.
1. It is happy. It is adapted to our weak conditions of faith. God is unseen and we are liable to think him distant from us in our work. His companionship seems unreal, and communion with Him is, at times, very difficult. Our unbelief robs us of the great repose and hope we ought to experience in His presence. But Aaron was seen by Moses. They could converse one with the other. They could walk together, not by faith, but by sight. And in converse with each other they might rise into higher communion with God. So mutual help in religious service is happy, it links soul to soul, and becomes the inspiration of richer communion with heaven.
2. It is sympathetic.
3. It is hopeful.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Exo. 4:14. The literal rendering of the clause is, Is not Aaron thy brother, the Levite? which we cannot but understand as implying, that in consequence of Moses unbelieving waywardness on this occasion, the distinguishing honour of the priesthood, and of being the official head of the house of Levi, the person in whom the dignity of that name should be especially centred, which would otherwise have been bestowed upon him, should now be conferred upon his brother Aaron, and perpetuated in his family. In this fact the expression of the Lords anger consisted. Otherwise, how was Aaron any more the Levite than Moses? We find accordingly the forfeited privilege of Moses thus secured to Aaron (1Ch. 23:13). This, we suppose would have been the honour of Moses, had he yielded a ready obedience to the divine mandate. The event teaches us that those who decline the labour and hazard connected with the call of God to a special service, may thereby forfeit and forego a blessing of which they little dream [Bush].
Thus Moses forfeited the dignity of being Jehovahs sole instrument in that glorious work He was about to accomplish.
No wonder that the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses. Where God commandeth, there to ask a reason is presumption; but to oppose reason, is a kind of rebellion [Trapp].
Moreover, God condescended so far to the weakness of Moses, as to find him a coadjutor in his mission to the children of Israel and to the King of Egypt. Aaron could speak well. Moses was a thinker; Aaron was a speaker. Aaron was to be to Moses instead of a mouth, and Moses was to be to Aaron instead of God. Thus one man has to be the complement of another. No one man has all gifts and graces. The best and ablest of us cannot do without our brother. There is to be a division of labour in the great work of conquering the world for God. The thinker works; so does the speaker; so does the writer. We are a chain; not merely isolated links; we belong to one another, and only by fraternal and zealous co-operation can we secure the great results possible to faith and labour. Some men are fruitful of suggestion. They have wondrous powers of indication; but there their special power ends. Other men have great gifts of expression; they can put thoughts into the best words; they have the power of music; they can charm and persuade. Such men are not to undervalue one another; they are to co-operate as fellow-labourers in the Kingdom of God [City Temple].
Multiplied oppositions to Gods call may provoke Him to be angry with His servants.
When the Divine promise cannot persuade, Gods anger drives His servants from their excuses.
When one refuseth Gods work in redeeming His Church, He knoweth others to use for it.
God indulgeth the weakness of His servants to give associates, when they decline to go alone.
Gods knowledge of persons, relations, and conditions, puts them in a capacity to do His work.
God moveth the hearts of people sometimes to the same work when they are in remote places.
Some hearts are more ready to move about Gods work than others.
Providence moveth persons to meet, for carrying on His work, when they are at a distance.
God appointeth meetings of friends to enhance the welfare of His Church.
God useth the gladness of some to help on the deadness of others in His work.
THE TWO BROTHERS
I. As educated by different methods. Moses was educated in the palace of Egypt. In the desert. By the vision. By the miracles. Aaron was educated by his parents. Little is known of his early training. He was incidentally called into history. One good natural gift may be fortune and fame to a man. Moses was the greater man, yet Aaron, though of less moral energy, was useful to him. Smaller souls have their mission. Small souls are often gifted with speech. The education of these two brothers had led to different results. It is not the tendency of education to bring all men to one level of talent, but to draw out their distinctive gifts, for the common good of humanity.
II. As meeting after a long separation.
1. The meeting was providential.
2. The meeting had a moral and national significance.
3. The meeting was welcome to the brothers. What is more pleasing than the reunion of the members of a family after a long absence? What narratives each brother would record to the other. Especially would they talk about their new mission, and its likelihood of success. These brothers met in a wilderness. Joy and friendship is independent of locality. The brethren of the Christian Chuch will one day meet again, not in the wilderness, but in the paradise of God.
III. As uniting in a grand enterprise. These two brothers are going to accomplish the freedom of Israel! To the world, a folly; to faith, a victory. Brothers should always join in the enterprises of moral freedom. They should unitedly place themselves in a line with the providence of God.
IV. As entering upon an important future. What will be the issue of this meeting? Who can tell? It will have an influence upon both lives. All the casual meetings of life are important in their bearing upon present work and future destiny.
V. As reflecting commendation upon their family. Was it not a great honour to Amram and Jochebed that two of their sons should be called to be the deliverers of Israel? Sons honour their parents when they undertake an enterprise for the good of men. Brothers cannot be better united than in the cause of God.
The Divine anger:
1. Often righteously provoked.
2. Often gentle in its reproof.
3. Truly benevolent in its disposition.
I know that he can speak well.
I. Then God takes knowledge of the varied talents of men.
II. Then God will hold men responsible for their talents.
III. Then the talents of men cannot be better employed than in the service of the Church.
ILLUSTRATIONS
BY THE
REV. WM. ADAMSON
Exo. 4:14-17.
(10)Moses and Aaron!The cobbler, writes Smith, could not paint the picture; but he could tell Apelles how to put in the shoe-latchet. Two neighboursone blind and the other lamewere called to a place at a great distance. It was agreed that the blind man should carry his lame friend, who would help his human house with his eyes;
The lame man with his crutches rude
Upon the blind mans shoulders broad;
United thus achieved the pair
What each would have accomplished neer.
Gellert.
Moses and Aaron had each their defects. Moses and Aaron also had their qualifications. Moses was earnest. Aaron was eloquent. Moses had a bold heart. Aaron had a beautiful voice. Both aided each other. Mutual help.
Exo. 4:14-17.
(11)Gifts!Well does Salter put it when he points out that flowers, while they captivate us with their beauty, no less astonish us with their variety. Every country has its peculiar species. Some of these love the burning suns of India; some the barren deserts of Africa. America and New Holland are equally distinguished by the variety of its animals, as by the diverse flowers of singular and rare beauty. Then again there are some flowers which are the natives only of temperate climates, and a few are confined to the snowy regions of the north. All these are remarkable for their different qualities; since some have fragranceothers beautyand others again the properties of medicine. So in the Christian Church. the gifts and graces of its members differ widely.
And yet what godlike gifts neglected lie
Wasted and marred in the forgotten soul!
The finest workmanship of God is there.
Willis.
Guthrie aptly remarks that in Christians there are differences of character, whichspringing from constitutional peculiarities or early educationgrace will modify, but never altogether eradicate on this side the grave. But there are also differences which imply no defect; just as there are in countenances which are very unlike, and yet, be the complexion dark or fair, are very beautiful. We do not expect all good men to be alike, any more than we would have all the members of a family alike, or all the flowers alike. The Church of Christlike the meadows below, or the star-spangled heavens aboveowes its beauty to that variety in unity which marks the works of God and mars none of them.
Every where about us they are glowing,
Some like stars, to tell us Spring is born;
Others, their blue eyes with tears oerflowing,
Stand like Ruth amid the golden corn.
Longfellow.
Exo. 4:14-17.
(12)Reward!There is a beautiful tradition illustrating the blessedness of performing our duty at whatever cost to our inclination. A lovely vision of our Saviour had appeared to a monk. In silent rapture and bliss of ecstasy he was gazing upon it, when the hour arrived at which it was his duty to feed the poor of the convent. He lingered not in his cell to enjoy the vision, but left it to perform his humble duty. On his return, the legend runs that he found the vision still waiting for him to salute him with the words: Hadst thou staid, I must have fled. Ancient history (says Pilkington) stories of Dionysius that he caused a band of musicians to play before him on the promise of rewardand that he told them when they came for their reward that they had already had it in their hopes of it. Not so does God fulfil his promise. Moses had respect unto the recompense of the reward, and he now enjoys it.
So do thy work; it shall succeed
In thine or in anothers day;
And if denied the victors meed,
Thou shalt not lack the toilers pay.
Whittier.
Exo. 4:14-17.
(13)Mutual Help!Conceive a chain whose uppermost link was surely fixed in the living rock as your only hope of escape; would you not venture your bodys weight upon its strength? But what would be the result if the links were not within one another; but only attached externally by some brittle thing? You would simply be exchanging a slippery place of danger for inevitable death. No; the links must be within each other, and this is done in the fires. They were brought to a white heat ere they could be welded in. Moses and Aaron had thus to be welded together in the furnace of afflictionere attached to the Eternal Rockthey were safe holding for the imperuled host of Israel.
Steadfast and sure it cannot fail,
It enters deep within the veil,
It fastens on a land unknown,
And moors me to my Fathers throne.
Wesley.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(14) The Levite.Aben-Ezra and Rosenmller think that this was the usual designation of the brother of Moses among the Israelites, who thus distinguished him from other Aarons. But as a distinguishing mark, the term would be superfluous here, since thy brother prevented the possibility of any other Aaron being thought of. Probably, the term is a title of honour, the priestly character already attaching to the tribe in Gods counsels.
I know that he can speak well.Heb., I know that speaking he can speak. Facility of utterance, rather than excellence of speech, is intended.
And also, i.e., not only does his ready speech make him a suitable person to appoint, but he is coming to join thee, so that he and thou may arrange your respective parts at once.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
14. Aaron the Levite now first appears, and behind him Moses for the time retires . This is just and natural, for during forty years Aaron had been among his brethren, and living in the atmosphere of the highest civilization of the time, while Moses had been tending sheep for a Bedouin priest in the wilderness; but again we ask, what follower of the Sinai legislator would ever have dreamed of this? Aaron is God’s spokesman to the people; it is Aaron’s rod that buds; Aaron is Jehovah’s high priest; it is his sons that come to honour and wear the splendid vestments of the tabernacle, the chosen servants of Jehovah’s altar, while the children of Moses vanish into obscurity. Yet the slow, stammering, vailed prophet is the soul of Israel.
Behold, he cometh forth to meet thee Events had been ripening in Egypt also, and the people as well as the leader had been preparing for the critical hour. He will be glad in his heart to see thee, and ready to unite with thee in the work of national deliverance. So we afterwards read that “he met and kissed him in the mount of God.” The Egyptian traditions of the exodus, though broken and confused, are deemed by some historians to show traces of dynastic rivalries and convulsions which favoured the exit of Israel; but this is extremely uncertain. It is certain, however, that Moses, Pharaoh, and Israel, though all freely acting, were all providentially used in this crisis. See on Exo 4:21.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Exo 4:14. Behold, he cometh forth to meet thee This latter part of the verse would be rendered more properly, behold, he shall come forth to meet thee: and when he shall see thee, he shall rejoice in his heart: and, perhaps, the phrase, he cometh forth to meet thee, or to thy meeting, may imply the readiness of Aaron to unite with Moses in this grand undertaking. The Almighty here gives Moses a further proof of his power, by foretelling him in what manner he would bring Aaron to him, and unite him in counsel with him.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
That is a precious scripture, Psa 103:4 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 4:14 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and he said, [Is] not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart.
Ver. 14. And the anger of the Lord. ] And no wonder: Patientia laesa fit furor. Where God commandeth, there to ask a reason is presumption; but to oppose reason, is a kind of rebellion.
I know that he can speak well.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Is not Aaron, &c. Figure of speech Erotesis in Negative affirmation. App-6.
the Levite. Why this? Was not Moses a Levite? Is it not to indicate that He whom He would send (Exo 4:13) would be of the tribe of Judah?
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Aaron the Levite
(Cf) Exo 28:1. (See Scofield “Exo 28:1”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
anger: 2Sa 6:7, 1Ki 11:9, 1Ch 21:7, Luk 9:59, Luk 9:60, Act 15:28, Phi 2:21
cometh: Exo 4:17, 1Sa 10:1-7, Mar 14:13-15, 2Co 2:13, 2Co 7:6, 2Co 7:7, 1Th 3:6, 1Th 3:7
Reciprocal: Exo 4:27 – Go into Exo 31:6 – I have given Num 11:26 – went not out 1Sa 2:27 – Did I 1Sa 12:8 – sent Moses Ecc 4:9 – are Isa 3:3 – eloquent orator Jon 1:3 – to flee Mar 6:7 – two and Act 11:11 – General Act 26:19 – I was not Act 28:15 – when 1Co 9:17 – against
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
4:14 And the {e} anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and he said, [Is] not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart.
(e) Though we provoke God justly to anger, yet he will never reject his own.